One of the things Disney is known for is their amazing parades. You’ve probably seen the Electric Light Parade that happens every night and has been around for decades. Disney World’s newest parade is a beautiful wonder to behold, and it sparks audible joy and excitement in the crowd every time I get to see it.
All of your favorite characters are there: the many princesses – Belle, Ariel, Cinderella – including newer additions such as Rapunzel, Merida, Anna and Elsa, and Tiana, as well as the original gang – Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, etc. The parade performer costumes are GORGEOUS, ranging from beautiful ball gowns to terrifying demon-dragon things that accompany the steampunk Maleficent dragon.
As you can tell from the picture above, Disney has taken a very whimsical turn with this parade (not that Disney isn’t usually whimsical, but there’s a dreamlike quality to FoF that is more noticeable and delightful). All of the floats have themes, obviously, Peter and Wendy charge down Main Street in a Jolly Roger and Neverland based float, while Merida travels along on a giant Bagpipe, followed by Scottish dancers. Each float has music that corresponds to it’s specific movie, which is different from The Electric Light Parade, which just has one song for the entire parade. I love the variety of music, as it allows a moment for each movie or character to be in the spotlight; it’s fun to hear the squeals of delight as someone’s favorite Princess or character comes down the street.
The crowning gem of Festival of Fantasy is the steampunk inspired Dragon that breathes real fire as it makes it’s way down Main Street! It’s awesome.
There are so many more amazing floats and a multitude of other characters present in Festival of Fantasy. It’s definitely a must-do on every trip now for me. It’s magic as only Disney can do it.
On my most recent visit a few weeks ago, I got a seat right by the entrance to Magic Kingdom because I had to leave right after the parade was finished. There’s not really a bad place to see the parades, as long as you don’t have tall people standing in front of you. I only waited in my spot for about 20 minutes (although to be fair, this was in January; during peak season people line up and wait for an hour sometimes). If you want to see the parade and then take advantage of shorter lines for rides, get a spot in Frontierland. The parade starts there, and once it passes you completely, you’ll have a little time to go do some rides while the parade makes it way to Main Street (and the majority of people waiting to see it).
Festival of Fantasy happens every day in The Magic Kingdom at 3:00 pm.
Can’t wait till your next Disney Trip to see this incredible parade? Check out the full video:
Hi Jessica.
Did you take these pictures? Were you in Orlando?
I was a small child when I went. The thing I remember about the festival of lights was the stinky generators that power each float. As this is in daylight, these obviously do not have that. The mermaid girl is hamming it up! I like the two girls in the long gloves. All the performers appear to be enjoying themselves. That is important to me and makes the difference on this sort of thing being successful or not.
Cheers!
~Icky. 🙂
These aren’t my pics; I have some, but they aren’t nearly as clear as these, and I wanted to give a good representation of the parade. I’m fortunate that I get to go to Orlando a lot right now.
I think they’ve worked on their floats since you were there last 🙂 I don’t remember any stinky generators! It is so important that entertainers enjoy themselves, it makes for a much more genuine experience. That’s one of the things that sets Disney apart!
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